Skip to main content

Multi-Pronged Approach towards Malnutrition

By


 As per the National Family Health Survey-3 (NFHS-3) published in 2005-06, 42.5% children under 5 years are underweight and 69.5% are anemic.  In urban and rural areas, 32.7% and 45.6% children are underweight while prevalence of anemia among children is 63% and 71.5% respectively.
 The Government has accorded high priority to the issue of malnutrition particularly among children and is implementing several schemes/programmes of different Ministries/Departments through State Governments/UT Administrations. The schemes/programmes include the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme, National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), Mid-Day Meal Scheme, new schemes on a pilot basis such as the Rajiv Gandhi Schemes for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls (RGSEAG) namely SABLA and theIndira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojna (IGMSY) as the Direct targeted interventions. Besides, the indirect multi-sectoral interventions include Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), National Horticulture Mission, National Food Security Mission, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Total Sanitation Campaign, National Rural Drinking Water Programme etc. All these schemes have potential to address one or other aspect of Nutrition. Several of the existing schemes/programmes including ICDS have been expanded / universalized just before or during the Eleventh Five Year Plan, hence, the results are likely to be visible after some time.
           Furthermore, some of the recent decisions by the Government to improve the nutrition situation have been to
(i)            strengthen and restructure  ICDS with special focus on pregnant and lactating mothers and children under three
(ii)           prepare a multi-sectoral programme to address the maternal and child malnutrition in selected 200 high-burden districts
(iii)          launch a nationwide information, education and communication campaign against malnutrition and
(iv)         bring strong nutrition focus in programmes in sectors like health, drinking water supply and sanitation, school education,  agriculture,  food & public distribution.
           In addition, the proposed National Food Security Bill is also expected to contribute towards food security. With the continuing attention to nutrition, the targeted interventions and the cumulative effect of various schemes including new schemes, the under-nutrition levels are expected to show a declining trend.

This was stated by the Minister for Women and Child Development, Smt. Krishna Tirath in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram

By
FEATURE H&FW B.   Narzary * Reducing the maternal and infant mortality rate is the key goal feature of the Reproductive and Child Health Programme under the National Rural Health Mission. Several initiatives have been launched by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare under the Mission including  Janani   Suraksha   Yojana , a key intervention that has resulted in phenomenal growth in institutional deliveries with more than one  crore  women  beneficiaries  annually. JSY was launched to promote institutional deliveries so that skilled attendance at birth is made available  and  mothers and new born babies can be saved from pregnancy related complications and deaths.
Post a Comment
Read more

Folk Dances of India

By
India is a land of diverse cultures and traditions. Each region of the country has a unique culture, which is also prominently visible in its various art forms. Almost all the regions of the country have their specific folk music and dance, which proves to be a wonderful way of expression of their community and its traditions. Though these folk dances are not as complex as the classical dance forms, they are very beautiful, because of the essence of rawness in them. Be it the Bihu of Assam, Dol-Cholom of Manipur, Hikal of Himachal Pradesh or Chhau of Bihar, each of the Indian folk dance forms comes across as a reflection of the deep sited beliefs and traditions of a particular culture. The folk dances of any community are performed on almost every special occasion and festival, to express elation and joy. These dances are also considered to be auspicious by many of the tribal communities in the country. Many folk dances are dedicated to the presiding deity of the specific commu
Post a Comment
Read more

Schemes & Facilities for the Senior Citizens

By
  FEATURE SJE A demographic revolution is taking place throughout the world indicating a phenomenal rise in the population of the elderly. According to a UN estimate, the population of the people aged 60 years and above is expected to grow to 1.2 billion by 2025 and to 2 billion by 2050. Today, about two thirds of all the older people are living in the developing world. As per the Census 2001, in India, there were 77 million persons above 60 years constituting 7.5% of the total population of the country. This number is projected to go up to  12.4% of the population in 2026.  Such an increase obviously will throw up numerous challenges in designing old age specific programmes and schemes and addressing their issues in a comprehensive manner.   The Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment  announced a National Policy for Older Persons in January, 1999. This policy reaffirmed the commitment of the Government to ensure the well-being of the older persons in a h
Post a Comment
Read more